


All I needed was the love you gave

by Elisexyz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-03 16:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15822801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: 1.“Don’t you think it’s a bit early for a proposal?”2.“So are we, uh, good?”A collection of unrelated Swanfire themed Tumblr ficlets.





	1. "Have you lost your fucking mind?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [41\. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” + Swanfire](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/177490021489/thank-you-so-much-for-that-prompt-i-loved-it-can). Missing moment set during their time together before the watches disaster.

Emma blinks, somehow hoping that said gesture would make the world go back to spinning in the right direction. She does it one, two, three times, but whenever her eyes go back to Neal he’s still in front of her, solemnly holding up the closest thing to an engagement ring they can afford, namely a _plastic_ ring that he most likely stole from some random stand, taking advantage of the crowd gathered on the street.

“Have you lost your mind?” she asks, eyebrows shooting up as her stomach decides to start dancing for some reason and a sparkle of curiosity distracts her from more pressing concerns – such as: is this proof that Neal is after all a crazy guy that she should run away from without even glancing back?

“Of course not,” Neal scoffs, a hug-ass grin on his face.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit early for a proposal?” she insists, the corner of her lips twisting up in amusement anyway. She blames his damn contagious grin. “I mean, I am not even completely sure you are not a pervert yet. And this was supposed to be a trail.”

“We agreed to try the partnership for a week,” he corrects, smoothly. “It’s been two. I’m confident you like me.”

She rolls her eyes, and she avoids conceding the point out loud. “I’m still not marrying you.”

“It’s not a proposal,” he corrects, shifting excitedly on the driver seat so that he can turn his torso a bit more and face her better. “This—” he continues, holding out the ring for emphasis. “—this is a promise. Partnerships require basic trust and support, so we need to promise that we’ll take care of each other.”

Emma can’t help twisting her face into a full-blown grin at that, finding it way more adorable than she should. Sometimes she wonders what kind of alien Neal is, because seriously, he’s the most ridiculous person she’s ever met and he’s making him offering her a pink plastic ring sound like the most solemn vow in the history of vows.

“And why am I the only one who gets the plastic ring?” she asks instead, playfully. “Marking the territory, are you?”

“Well, I got two,” he protests, taking _another_ pink ring out of his pocket. “But I don’t think it’ll fit even my pinkie.”

Yeah, okay, fair enough. From the looks of it, that thing will barely fit _her_ finger.

“So,” Neal clicks his tongue, staring expectantly at her. “Ready to make our partnership official?” He holds out the ring for her once again, and that damn smile has the nasty habit of making her stomach flutter and melting her on the spot. Damn in.

“ _Fine_ ,” she says, and she means for it to sound annoyed, but it comes out amused. She holds out her hand and he happily slides the ring in – on her pinkie finger, just to avoid it getting stuck. It’s a ridiculous ring, but Neal is basically _beaming_ in excitement. Not for the first time those two weeks, she wonders how long it’s been since when he’s had a friend with him.

“I reserve the right to get a divorce,” she jokes, as he gets out the other ring to invite her to repeat his gesture.

“Of course, my lady,” he replies, doing the closest thing to a bow that he can manage in the restricted space of the bug.

She manages to slide the ring only for half his finger, but apparently that’s good enough for him.

“It’s the meaning that counts,” he announces.

They end up sticking them in the ashtray by the passenger seat, because they can’t reasonably walk around with those things on their fingers.

Sometimes, Emma looks at those ridiculous plastic rings, and she can’t fight off a smile.


	2. “Are you still awake…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [15: “Are you still awake…?” + Swanfire](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/178220462099/may-i-ask-for-are-you-still-awake-and-swanfire).

“Are you still awake?” she whispers, pushing herself up on her elbows to take a look at the passenger seat, where Neal is curled up, half hidden by the shadows that the – frankly creepy – street light casts on them.

There’s a moment of silence that makes Emma fear that either he’s sleeping or he’ll just ignore her, but in the end Neal shifts, turning slightly towards her. “Yeah.”

She swallows, taking a deep breath of encouragement. She’s not _good_ at this stuff, but if her conscience is not allowing her to sleep she’d much rather try to do something about it instead of spending the whole night tossing and turning. Even more so since it’s her turn sleeping in the backseat and she’d better _enjoy_ it.

“I’m sorry,” she says, quickly. “About before.”

She waits anxiously for his answer, a part of her fearing that he’ll tell her to go screw herself and go back to sleep.

“Me too,” he says, instead, and he sounds sincere.

When living in close quarters the way they do, it’s inevitable to fight, every now and then. It wasn’t even something particularly _important:_ it started as a squabble about the last piece of gum – which is not something that they usually bother stealing –, and it could have ended there hadn’t Emma been having a bad day for some reason that even _she_ doesn’t know and hadn’t Neal been sleep deprived – he didn’t say anything, but she’s learnt how to notice when he’s had a rough night, mostly by how he seems to be full of manic energy in the morning.

They kept arguing about the music to listen to, and what to eat, _where_ to eat, and it escalated to the point that, for the first time in weeks, they went their separate ways to eat on their own. Emma had some cash on her, so she didn’t even have to bother stealing, but the solitude didn’t do much to improve her nerves, and if on the way back she managed to sway herself a bit from her firm ‘Neal is being an unreasonable asshole’ stance, all the progress disappeared as soon as she returned to the Bug to find out that Neal was there, but he was already curled up in the passenger seat, hidden in his hoodie and with apparently zero intention of talking with her.

And, of course, if the asshole didn’t even _bother_ waiting for her and trying to talk it out, she wasn’t going to apologize for anything. Fuck him.

Except then she couldn’t get a minute of sleep, busy as she was regretting being so irritable and wondering if they’re going back to talking to each other in the morning or if it’s all blown to hell for good.

“I was a bit cranky,” Neal adds.

Emma pulls herself up in a sitting position, since her arms have started to protest, and she draws her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them to be more comfortable. “No shit. Rough night?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Just a shitty day. I’m not my best self when I am in a bad mood.”

Neal scoffs. “I noticed,” he says, but he doesn’t sound bitter.

“So are we, uh, good?” she asks, after a moment of silence. “Or are you going to dump me by the side of the road first thing in the morning?”

There’s a second of silence that Emma spends somehow dreading the answer, then Neal turns around with his whole body, stepping into the light and giving her a perfect view of his disbelieving face.

“Of course not,” he replies, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re in this together, I’m not leaving you because of a _fight_. I take care of you and you take care of me, right?”

She can’t help smiling, relief washing through her. “Yeah. Right.”


End file.
